Matthew 12
The religion of the apostles and disciples of Christ Jesus was the ancient Judaism. They didn’t have a developed form of the liturgy of Christianity in their lifetime. Moreover, they never had any church building for the celebration of the Eucharist. There was no tabernacle, no marble altar, no statues, no pews, or no holy water font. The apostles and disciples of Jesus didn’t have a developed hierarchy of clergy, either. None of them went to a seminary for philosophical and theological formations. But they had Christ Jesus. They lived together and travelled together. They witnessed what Jesus did and how he did. The main celebrant of their first Eucharist was Christ himself. Christ himself ordained these men for his priesthood. And they saw how Christ suffered and died and rose from death. They learned Christ Jesus first. Religious practices then followed.
In the current multicultural and pluralistic society, many nonbelievers come in contact with Christianity firstly by the liturgy, religious practices, or moral norms. It is not easy for them to encounter the person of Christ. Our religion became very much institutionalized and bureaucratized over the centuries. I am afraid if we can introduce the person of Christ to those who hear the Gospel for the first time. I fear I might be one like the Pharisees in today’s gospel who shunned Jesus and his disciples because of religious laws and customs. I am often deeply disappointed and frustrated at myself for failing to represent the person of Christ by being a cold and impersonal bureaucrat. Jesus desires mercy, not sacrifice.
To bring the person of Christ to people, I need to encounter Christ first as the apostles and disciples did. This is why we read the Bible. This is why we read the saints of the Church. Before a religion, the Lord of the religion comes first. The Sabbath does not come first. The lord of the Sabbath comes first. And the Son of Man is the lord of the Sabbath.
